News

Crypto exchanges 12.07: Bitcoin close to $64,000

On Sunday, 12 July, the crypto market had a quiet weekend: Bitcoin held close to $64,000, while Ethereum remained around $1,800. No new regulatory licences were issued by Baltic and Nordic exchanges, as is typical over weekends. The main value here is the stable market context and a reminder of the MiCA landscape following the 1 July deadline.

Toms Ābeltiņš

13 July 20266 min read

Sunday, 12 July: the crypto market had a calm weekend — Bitcoin held close to $64,000, just slightly below Saturday's level, while Ethereum remained around $1,800. On Saturday, the market was supported by a short squeeze with approximately $214 million in liquidations, and the Fear & Greed Index improved from 23 to 26. On the institutional side, the seven-day flow for Bitcoin funds turned positive again (around $124.9 million), though the thirty-day balance remains deeply negative. No new CASP licences were issued in Baltic and Nordic markets over the weekend, but the MiCA landscape continues to take shape — the register now holds around 280 licensed providers, of which only around 14 are permitted to operate trading platforms.

Sunday, 12 July 2026 was a quiet weekend day for the crypto market: Bitcoin held close to the $64,000 mark, just slightly below Saturday's level, while Ethereum remained around $1,800. On the Baltic and Nordic exchange front, no new regulatory licences were issued over the weekend — as is standard practice, neither the Bank of Latvia, the Bank of Lithuania, nor Finland's FIN-FSA granted new CASP licences on Saturday or Sunday. The main value of this review, therefore, lies in the calm market context and a reminder of the MiCA landscape that continues to take shape following the 1 July deadline.

Markets: quiet trading with typical weekend activity

Bitcoin traded close to $64,000 on Sunday, virtually unchanged from the previous day, having recovered above that level on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, 11 July, Bitcoin rose by roughly half a per cent to approximately $64,200, while Ethereum climbed nearly one and a half per cent to around $1,800. The gains were partly driven by a short squeeze: approximately $214 million worth of leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours, with the majority affecting traders who had bet on a decline. Total crypto market capitalisation held around $2.28 trillion over the weekend. The Fear & Greed Index improved from 23 to 26 points, indicating a easing of panic, though sentiment remains cautious. Liquidity is typically thinner over weekends, so regional users should bear in mind that even modest trades on such days can trigger sharper price swings.

ETF flows: Bitcoin fund weekly balance turns positive again

The institutional segment saw a turning point towards the end of the week. US spot Bitcoin funds attracted approximately $90.4 million in net inflows on 10 July, with BlackRock's iShares fund IBIT accounting for the lion's share at around $86.8 million. Ethereum funds attracted approximately $18.4 million on the same day, with $16.2 million flowing into BlackRock's ETHA fund. As a result, the seven-day flow for Bitcoin funds turned positive again at approximately $124.9 million — however, the thirty-day picture remains deeply negative, with roughly $4.73 billion in outflows. This means that one or two strong days are not enough to erase several weeks of institutional selling pressure, and the direction of flows over the coming weeks remains the key indicator for regional investors to watch.

Region: no new licences over the weekend

The past 24 hours passed without any new regulatory announcements in Baltic and Nordic markets — as expected over weekends. The broader backdrop, however, remains stable and is gradually consolidating. Within the Baltics, Latvia continues to hold the region's top licensing position with seven CASP licences issued to date, Lithuania has issued six, and Estonia three. Across the EU and EEA as a whole, the CASP register underpinned by ESMA's framework has reached approximately 280 licensed providers according to the latest data, though only a small fraction — around 14 — are authorised to operate full trading platforms. In the Nordics, Norwegian exchange Firi, with more than 400,000 users, retains its status as the region's largest exchange and continues its expansion into Sweden on the basis of its MiCA licence granted by Norway's FIN-FSA, while Finland's Coinmotion and Northcrypto operate under FIN-FSA authorisations. For regional users, this means the range of licensed platforms continues to grow, and the competition for clients previously held by unregulated exchanges is working in their favour.

Watchlist: the MiCA landscape after the 1 July deadline

This section is a contextual reminder, not a Sunday news item. The MiCA transitional period ended on 1 July, and from that point onwards only authorised CASPs may legally provide crypto services within the EU and EEA. Several developments from early July continue to shape the picture: Norway's Norwegian Block Exchange received a MiCA CASP licence from Norway's Finanstilsynet at the end of June, opening up access to the entire EEA, while Ripple obtained a full MiCA CASP licence on 6 July via Luxembourg's regulator, the CSSF, enabling it to offer regulated services across all thirty EEA countries, including Norway. Meanwhile, the European Union is considering extending MiCA's scope to cover tokenisation and stablecoins, which could have implications for regional exchange operations in the future. These are contextual developments to keep an eye on in the coming weeks — not Sunday headlines.

What this means for users

For regional users, the weekend overview yields three conclusions. First, quiet trading close to the $64,000 mark suggests the market has found a temporary equilibrium following June's volatility — but thin weekend liquidity can still trigger sharp price moves, making leveraged positions risky. Second, the return of Bitcoin fund seven-day flows to positive territory is an encouraging signal, though the negative thirty-day balance serves as a reminder that institutional sentiment has not yet fully turned. Third, no new licences were issued in the region over the weekend, but the MiCA landscape continues to solidify — and a valid CASP licence, rather than marketing promises, remains the primary safety criterion when choosing an exchange.

Norriwire Briefing